Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1700-1800
Language: Greek
Origin: automatos 'acting by itself', from auto- ( AUTO-)

automatic

1 adjective
     
au‧to‧mat‧ic1 S3
1 an automatic machine is designed to work without needing someone to operate it for each part of a process:
an automatic weapon
an automatic gearbox
My camera is fully automatic.
2 something that is automatic always happens as a result of something you have done, especially because of a rule or law:
Littering results in an automatic fine.
3 done without thinking, especially because you have done the same thing many times before:
Practise the breathing techniques until they become automatic.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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